Dance Until There's Nothing Left
by dusk writer
Summary: The boys are on their Summer Tour and were expecting an exciting summer. They just didn't anticipate meeting a girl with a secret that's tearing her apart. Now a Connect Three Fic! Rated T for a reason.
1. Bathroom Break

A/N: And so began the first chapter

**A/N: And so began the first chapter. And seriously, what author on fanfiction starts a story at flipping 8:30 in the morning?! Possibly 11:00 at night but that's it! That's as early as I usually go. But whatever, that's the humor side of me. Since this is angst and not comedy maybe I should write in the morning. I don't really know…it probably won't last long. So I hope everyone found this story okay, being that it's completely separate from the audition page but whatevs. **

**I don't own the Connect Three! **

**Now without further ado, the first chapter of Dance Until There's Nothing Left! Dramatic much?**

The Connect Three tour bus sped down the long highway. Nate Gray stared blankly out the back window, watching trees pass, still tired form their concert last night. After getting in at nearly 11:30 they'd proceeded to drive overnight from Texas to northern California. Everyone on the bus was completely out of it right now and it didn't help anyone's mood that the toilet wasn't working…again.

With no hotel, no working toilet on the bus, and Shane's inability to hold it they were making a stop at a gas station, about an hour outside of their destination; Anaheim.

Just as they were pulling off the highway a pretty blonde haired, blue-green eyed, fifteen year old girl came and plopped down on the couch next to Nate. She was tall and athletic looking, and absolutely nothing like her older sisters. The motions she made of sitting down next to Nate startled him out of his trance.

"Oh hey Phoebe. What's up?" He asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes and stretching.

"Nothing much. Just bored is all. You didn't tell me that it'd be boring when you asked us to come with you on tour." She was referring to the fact that it was only a week into the boys' first Summer Tour and her and her sisters had already run out of things to do. They'd played hotel hide and seek, hotel putt putt, Who Can Make The Guys Laugh On Stage First, Guitar Hero…the list went on.

But she would never ask to go home. No matter how much she wished she could be at the beach right now, she would never do that to her oldest and best friend. He was practically her brother. She'd known Nate and his brothers ever since they'd first moved to New Jersey. Phoebe and her sisters had lived down the street form them and attended the same school and church for years. Before the boys had become famous, she'd just been happy to sit in his basement for hours, listening to him belt a tune form his latest Broadway discovery.

Things hadn't changed much in the last few years. She was still his best friend, and they'd kept in touch. She and her sisters had come with them on almost every tour they'd been on, excluding the ones during the school year.

"Well what's everyone else up to?" Nate asked, still half asleep.

"They're in the kitchen with your mom eating. And apparently we're stopping soon for a bathroom break because Shane can't hold it anymore." She ended with a snort. "I don't know the details because I just woke up and haven't actually talked to anyone yet but that's what I heard."

"Thank the Lord for that," He replied, finally standing up. "I've gotta go too!"

"Wow Nate, a little too much information there," Phoebe said sarcastically, reaching to the ground and picking up her new Nikon digital camera. She quickly snapped it up and took a picture of Nate before he had a chance to protest, and giggled as she danced out the door ahead of him. Nate smiled to himself and followed her.

Once they got to the kitchen they did indeed see Jason, Shane, Frankie, Mrs. Gray, Christine and Karla sitting at the table, each with a plate of bacon and eggs. Mr. Gray was most likely up with the driver at the moment. Christine and Karla were Phoebe's older sisters. Just like she was Nate's age, Christine was Jason's and Karla, Shane's.

Karla was eighteen and had just graduated High School, but you'd never know this by the way she acted when on sugar. She was hilarious most of the time and an unbelievable prankster. She was Shane's personality match for the most part, and the two sometimes joked that maybe they were long lost twins or something. She also looked nothing like Phoebe and their parents often wondered about that. She had long, golden brown hair and green-brown eyes. The only way to tell the two of them were sisters was by body type.

Christine on the other hand looked exactly like Karla, leaving Phoebe to wonder if maybe she was adopted. She had the same brown hair and hazel eyes and was naturally tan. None of that fair skin crap only Phoebe suffered from. Christine was the oldest of the three sisters at nineteen, going on twenty, and also the prep of the family. She was constantly texting and whenever she wasn't, she was watching Gossip Girl or One Tree Hill. She was also Jason's best friend.

"Good morning you two," Mrs. Gray greeted as they entered the room. "Breakfast?" She offered them plates.

"Thanks mom," Nate replied.

"Thanks Mrs. Gray," Phoebe and Nate sat down on the couch next to the table to eat since there wasn't enough room at the table.

"So what's up kids?" Karla asked as they sat down, her mouth full of scrambled eggs.

"Nothing much," Nate answered. "Just tired. That was an insane concert last night."

"Heck yes it was," Shane yelled punching the air. "Did you see that girl in the second row on Nate's side? She was gorgeous!" He earned an eye roll from Karla who, despite being his best friend, got a little annoyed by his constant flirting.

"Yeah, and I'm sure you'll see _her _again," She replied sarcastically.

"Can we please get through five minutes without you two bickering like three year olds?" Christine asked.

"Yeah, it's getting ridiculous." Jason agreed. The six of them laughed.

Just then the bus pulled into a near vacant gas station, causing Shane to get up and race to the bus's door up front.

"Out of my way unless you want to die!" He yelled, streaking by them and tripping once on his way.

"Shane!" His mother shouted at his comment, but he was already off the bus, bolting to the bathroom. She sighed, a smile playing on her lips as they watched him zoom by the window.

The rest of the gang got up slowly and made for the door at a normal human rate. Once outside the all stretched, shivers rolling up and down their spines from the cooler air. Then they split up, the girls heading to the right side of the station, boys to the left. Who ever heard of bathrooms being on opposite ends of a building?

Just as Jason and Nate reached the door to the bathroom Shane came bursting out. "Mission accomplished!" He announced proudly. His brothers smiled and rolled their eyes as he skipped, yes skipped, by them.

"You can go first Jas, I'll wait," Nate said and he leaned against the wall to wait. As Jason entered the bathroom he heard a sound coming from around the back of the am/pm mini mart. It sounded sort of like a girl crying…

**Switching POV's**

A young girl, about fifteen years of age crawled up to the back of the gas station, no energy left in her body. She was wearing a plain white t-shirt, loose jeans, ratty converse, and her long dark hair was in a braid down her back. She had light stains of eyeliner and mascara running from her hazel eyes. The stains were hardly noticeable considering it had been a while since she'd re-applied any.

She shook with silent, dry, sobs as she sat down and leaned up against the wall in the back of the convenience store. How ironic, she thought, that it was called a convenience store and was very convenient for it to be here at the moment for her. She'd been walking all night and felt half dead this morning. She just wanted to sleep but was afraid if she did, He might come and find her again. Her only hope was to keep running, as far away as possible.

She finally couldn't hold back the tears anymore and just let them fall. A loud groan ripped from deep within her chest and tears streamed down her already puffy and red face. She just wished that her family was still looking for her. It had been almost a year since she'd been taken, snatched from outside her very home and driven cross country in the back of some cheap Volvo. Now, hundreds of miles from her home, she didn't even have money to go to a pay phone. Maybe if she could call her parents or one of her sisters they'd come and get her.

But they'd given up a long time ago. Whenever she'd caught glimpses of the news, her school picture had been plastered all over it for the first month. Then for the next three she might hear her name a few times. After six months, nothing. Not even a mention. That was when she'd given up the last of her hope.

But then, by the mercy of God, He'd left the door unlocked. Unlocked. Once he went out she'd listened for the car to pull away and then she'd run. She thought about going to the police but was too scared. What happened if he found her there and made up some lie about being her father? They'd never listen to a kid.

So she'd gone all night and was finally ready to collapse. She just wanted to die.

Just then she heard someone coming around the back of the store. She quickly looked around for anything to cover her. She couldn't let anyone find her until she was far away. But there was nothing back there and she questioned her ability to actually get up and hide if she had found anything.

A moment later, a curly haired, brown eyed boy slowly turned the corner. He was wearing jeans, a black and red checked shirt, and green converse. She looked up at him through her red rimmed eyes, her mouth slightly open. She took in his surprised appearance, and then quickly looked away. He was the most beautiful boy she'd ever seen and she was embarrassed to be seen like this.

He stared at her for what felt like forever and she just drew her knees in and hugged herself. That was when she noticed, out of the corner of her eye, that his expression had changed to one of confusion.

"You're not going to scream?" He asked. Now it was her turn to look confused. Why would she scream? She didn't know what to say, so she stayed silent and just shook her head.

"Do you even know who I am?" He asked, still puzzled. Okay now that did it! How could she possibly know who he was? She'd never met him before!

She shook her head again and hugged herself tighter. What if he told somebody about her? A few more tears leaked from her eyes, which stared straight ahead.

"Well…umm…I'm Nate. Nate Gray. You know from Connect Three?" He kept fishing but nothing clicked for her. "You've never heard if us?"

Was that a band of some sort? Well they had to be fairly new. She was a little lacking in her pop culture knowledge having been without access to a computer or cd for the past ten and a half months.

"Well…what's your name?" he asked. He just wouldn't give up!

She made her decision. She would make a run for it. She slowly stood up, using the wall for support, but as soon as she was up to her full height of 5'5" the world spun in front of her and she collapsed into his arms.

**So what didja think? I'm getting really excited about this one! Sorry it started kind of slow, I had to introduce some of the characters. The next one will pick up a little. Hope I did the people in this justice with your character traits!**

**Now go and review please! Please and thank you!**


	2. Say Something

A/N: Well thanks you so very much to those of you who reviewed the last chapter and put me on alert, favorites, ect

**A/N: Well thanks you so very much to those of you who reviewed the last chapter and put me on alert, favorites, ect. I can tell this is going to be one of my best fanfics yet and I'm so excited about where it's going to go. Well, you know, excluding the fact that it's about a girl who was kidnapped. Hehe. Well I'm going to try to update as fast as possible so bear with me. I'm working on two stories at once.**

**Now enjoy the new chapter!**

Nate had no time to think, he had to do something. He wasn't a doctor but was pretty sure it wasn't a good sign if a girl stood up and fainted. In his short life any fainting experiences he'd had were usually followed by ambulance sirens or something of that nature.

"Jason! Shane! Somebody come quick!" It felt like such a cliché thing to say but at the moment he really didn't care. Jason, God bless him, was just finishing in the bathroom and was the first one to the scene.

"Nate! Who is that and what happened?" Nate could only answer half the question because the first half was something he was also wondering.

"I don't know she just stood up and collapsed I heard her crying while I was waiting for the bathroom and I asked her what was wrong and she wouldn't tell me." Nate said very fast and all in one breath. He paused to catch his breath and saw that Shane had arrived, the girls and Mrs. Gray all in tow. Mr. Gray was still on the bus, trying to keep Frankie occupied.

"Jason out of my way please!" Mrs. Jonas said, rushing past her oldest son. He gladly let her pass, sure that if anyone knew what to do, it was his mom. "Nate, what happened?" Nate really wished everyone would stop asking him that.

"I don't know. She just tried to stand up and then fainted. She'd been crying before and looked like she was pretty tired but that's all I know." There. He felt that covered it thoroughly.

"Woah there Nate, you little show off." Shane began. "You made a girl pass out. You really are a stud muffin, aren't ya?" he patted his little brother on the back.

"Shane, she had no idea who I was. I know that sounds kind of conceited but come on. She had never even heard of us before." Nate said seriously.

"Well did she say anything?" Shane asked and Nate shook his head. "There you go. Maybe she's from another country and doesn't speak English. Ever think of that?"

"Yeah but I asked her a couple questions and she shook her head. She knew what I was saying, she just didn't say anything back." This made Shane scrunch up his face in confusion.

"Jason, Shane," Mrs Gray started. "You two need to help me get her onto the bus. She has nothing with her, not even a cell phone so we're going to take her with us. We aren't going far and this way we can help her. Christine, sweet heart, I need you to help me get a lot of cold compresses together. You'll help me take care of her. Karla, can you go and let Paul know what's happening and then come help me and your sister?" The two girls nodded and ran off. "And Nate and Phoebe, if you two could go keep an eye on Frankie for me that'd be a big help."

"Sure Mrs. Gray," Phoebe said. She tugged on Nate's arm and, reluctantly, he turned and followed her.

"Okay boys, on three lift her up. One. Two. Three," she told Shane and Jason. They then carried her limp body onto the tour bus. "Set her down on Nate's bunk. It's the closest one and low to the ground,"

They gently put her down and then went to find Christine and Karla to help get supplies together. Once the four returned with not only cold compresses, but water, juice, granola bars, extra blankets, and pillows, they laid them down next to Mrs. Gray who sat at the mysterious girl's bedside.

"Thanks kids. Jason, Shane, and Karla, you guys can go in with Nate and Phoebe. Try to keep Frankie quiet and please don't tell him what's happening yet. I think Christine and I can take things from here." And with that, the group dispersed.

About tan hour later, the girl had color back in her face and was starting to move. She didn't wake yet, she just tossed and turned a little, groaning in her sleep. They had just arrived at the arena for their concert that night and Nate was the first to come waltzing down the hall, checking if the girl had woken up yet.

"Hey mom, how's she doing?" he asked.

"Better," she sighed. "Listen I'm going to go help your father unload the bus a bit. Christine, if you could go tell everyone they can get off the bus now. Nate, can you stay with her," she motioned to the still unconscious girl, "and just make sure she's okay?"

"Oh yeah. Of course." He sat down next to his bunk and looked down on the girl's face. A minute later everyone walked by them quietly. Phoebe was the last to leave and she bent down to say something quickly.

"Hey Nate?" she paused so he would look at her. She could read his worried expression like an open book. "She'll be okay. And it's not your fault either." She then offered a small smile and followed the rest of the group off the bus, leaving him staring after his best friend in total bewilderment.

As if on cue, the girl suddenly jerked in her sleep and shot straight up, banging her head on the bunk above her which, ironically, was Joe's. She snapped her head to the right and saw Nate staring at her, mouth hanging open in surprise. She screamed once and curled up into a ball, sliding as far back into the corner as possible. She hugged her knees to her chest and rocked back and forth, shivering and whispering "Please don't hurt me. Please." She kept repeating her plea over and over, each time making Nate more and more confused.

"Woah woah." He said reaching out slowly. "I'm not gonna hurt you. You're safe right now." This didn't help and she kept shaking and begging him. Then, just as Nate's fingertips brushed her shoulder she jerked away sharply and began sobbing so hard it wasn't long before she started hiccupping.

And then as suddenly as it all started…it stopped. She looked up, staring Nate in the eyes, still hiccupping, and just stopped. Nate sat down on his bed and saw that she had blue, green, and brown in her wide eyes. She looked like she'd been through a lot.

He took a chance and said softly so as not to scare her, "What's your name?"

She just looked at him for a minute before answering "Gracie," Nate smiled.

"I'm Nate in case you don't remember. I saw you outside the gas station." He gave her a moment to let it sink in. "You fainted and we brought you with us. There was no one else there so we figured you were alone. Am I right?" She nodded.

"I…I…I'm…alone," she stuttered. "Where am I?" she continued slowly.

"On our tour bus. Me and my brothers have are in a band and we are on tour right now. We're only an hour away from the gas station if you need to be taken back-" he didn't get to finish before her instantaneous "NO!"

Nate was taken aback. Then she went on. "I mean, no. There's nothing back there that I want to be near. And what town exactly are we in?"

"Anaheim. California." Nate added in case she didn't know. She nodded slowly and said no more. So he tried again.

"Umm…where _do_ you live?"

"East coast, I think." It puzzled Nate that she wasn't sure of where she lived, but he didn't say anything about it. She seemed chatty now so he kept going.

"Listen. When I found you, you were crying…what happened?" His question was meant to be an innocent one but her reaction took it to a level he never thought possible. She completely shut down. She buried her head into her arms and started shaking again. He heard her crying again and was in shock. What had happened to make her act like this?

Then it hit him.

It was almost a year ago but he remembered seeing something on the news about a girl who'd been kidnapped. She was fourteen when she was taken and after a few moths of intense searching there was no more on the case. No more news stories on it once her family had announced they were giving up the search, pronouncing their daughter officially dead.

It was her. This girl was the one on the news who'd been kidnapped. At once his heart went out to her and he felt a lump forming in his throat. How had she survived this long? He was sure if he'd known his family had stopped searching for him he'd have probably died a long time ago.

"Gracie?" she jumped at the sound of her name. "Were you kidnapped?" A completely normal question of course.

It took a moment but she slowly nodded her head. A tear slipped down his face as he realized the situation she was in…the one his family was now in.

"You know you can talk to me if you ever need to, right?" he waited until she nodded again. "And just so you know, you're safe here. No one will hurt you while you're with us. We just want to help."

**Switching POV**

Safe. What was safe? Gracie's head swam with all the promises he was making her. And how did he know? _Stupid question Gracie. He probably saw it on the news ages ago._ She thought. But he looked nice enough. And he also looked like he was her age so there was no way he could be someone affiliated with _him_. She decided, against her better judgment, to trust him. Or at least as close as she could come trusting anyone at the moment.

Trust. What _was_ trust?

**Oooo, very serious chapter. Hope you all liked this one. And the next one will be at the concert so I promise Kirsten and Claire, you will be coming in. **

**Now review please! 10 alerts and only 7 reviews? Please! You can do better than that! **

**Peace out girl scout!**


	3. One Crowded Tour Bus

A/N: Okay before I start I just want to thank everyone who reviewed and favorited and alerted me last night

**A/N: Okay before I start I just want to thank everyone who reviewed and favorited and alerted me last night. I woke up and had 18 emails all from fanfiction! Needless to say it made my day! And as if I wasn't excited enough, I got my first flamer last night. I know I'm excited too!**

**Well thanks again and I'm trying to update as fast as humanly possible so hopefully everyday. And I'd also planned on finishing this chapter two days ago, but lost my inspiration. Sorry! Well now that's all done, enjoy the new chapter!**

"So, do you want to go inside now?" Nate asked after a long pause.

Gracie nodded and he offered his hand to her. She hesitantly took it and he pulled her to her feet…before having to catch her when she collapsed again. This time, however, she stayed conscious. Her legs shook unsteadily beneath her as she fought to stay on her feet now.

"Sorry," she mumbled, embarrassed, as she stood up again. He took her hand again and led her off the bus. The warm summer air greeted them as they stepped off and Nate left Gracie for a moment so he could run and grab his guitar quickly. He snatched it up and jogged back to her. He noticed Big Rob was outside waiting for them so Nate introduced him to Gracie and she followed him into the building, Nate at her side.

"Alright, I have to warn you," Nate began turning to Gracie. "Before we go in there, it can be a little crazy and loud. Just stay with me and you'll be okay." He waited for the forthcoming nod form her and she slid her hand into his. It occurred to Nate that she was like a little kid, so unsure of everything, always wanting someone trustworthy with them.

They walked through the front door of the arena and after walking down a long hall, up an escalator, down another hall and through an empty doorway they were greeted with the loud shouts and banging from all the construction going on. Everyone on crew was hard at work, building the stage and hanging lights. Getting instruments set and moving around chairs to fit the catwalk in.

Gracie's hands flew to her ears as she tried desperately not to let the screaming if power tools remind her of her own screams. The way they echoed off the walls of the arena made it all the more terrifying as she remembered the way her voice had reverberated off the walls in that dark basement.

"Gracie! Are you okay?" Nate shouted over the roar of noise, startling her out of her terrors. She quickly shook her head and Nate pulled her along as fast as he could, down the stairs, through the audience, behind the stage, down one more hallway, and into a dressing room. By this time Gracie's breath was becoming shaky as she fought back the tears.

_Jeez, _thought Nate. _One little thing to set her off and look out. What the heck did this guy do to her to make her act like this? _

The room was empty and he knew this was because it was his dressing room. He set down his guitar and pulled Gracie over to the counter underneath a wall length mirror. He picked her up under the arms and set her down on it. He took her face in his hands, knowing her had to say something before she went all _Schindler's List_ on his ass. 

"Listen to me. It's going to be fine. Don't worry, no one here will hurt you," he went on like that until her breathing returned to normal. Then he sighed and turned around, putting a hand on the back of his neck. _Nate G what are you going to do now? _He asked himself.

At that moment the door burst open and Gracie screamed as Shane appeared. He stopped at the sound of her screaming and once she knew it wasn't _him_ and stopped shivering, he began talking a mile a minute.

"Nate! They're here! Those girls from the last show! They're waiting outside and me and Jason and Karla and Christine just gave them front row seats for tonight's show! Then they are coming backstage!" Everything he said ended in an exclamation point, it seemed to Nate, if it had been written down. "Oh man Nate they are so gorgeous! Their names are Kirsten and Claire and they're here on vacation to see us just because we weren't coming to their hometown!" he continued his ramble as if Nate actually cared. He was a little busy trying to keep Gracie from having a total meltdown right here.

"Shane, slow down. You're scaring her." He motioned towards Gracie who'd pulled her knees to her chest once again, burying her face in her arms.

"Hey Nate, what's going on with her?" he whispered to his brother.

"I'll tell you and Jason later," he said but Shane wasn't having any of that.

"No way, you tell me now and I'll tell Jason myself." He was in his serious mode and that's how Nate knew there was no escaping this issue.

"Okay fine." He turned back to Gracie and said "hey I'll be right back. I'm just going to talk to Shane for a minute." He then realized she'd never met him. "Oh wait. Gracie this is my brother Shane. Shane, this Gracie." Shane smiled and waved to her.

"Hey there," he said and she offered a sad smile. He then yanked his brother out of the room and stood waiting for the explanation.

**Six o'clock that night…**

Nate was standing in his dressing room, scrutinizing his appearance in the mirror. As much as he was nervous for the show being taped tonight for their 3D movie, he couldn't get his mind off of Gracie. After he'd told Shane everything, Shane had flipped, told Jason who'd flipped and told their parents, who also flipped, and then all the girls heard the story and had "awwwwed" their hearts out.

Currently Nate had left Gracie in the intensive care of his best friend. Phoebe had become Nate's life line in the situation and he knew he owed her big time for it. They were in the back room, probably playing guitar hero or something along those lines. Karla and Christine were out in the audience somewhere, trying to sneak peeks at the girls Shane and Jason had gone gaga over. Jason and Shane were probably getting their mics checked and talking with Mitchie Torres, their opening act. She'd arrived about an hour after everyone and had been filled in on their new guest.

Nate sighed and flipped up the collar of his brown jacket before leaving the room. He walked down the hall and into the back room. Phoebe and Gracie were, sure enough, playing guitar hero. For a moment he caught a glimpse of a genuine smile on Gracie's face and it made him do back flips inside. Then, the noise of the door opening caught up with her and she jumped out of her skin.

"Woah, it's just me," he reassured her and she went back to the game, a serious look on her face now.

"Thanks Nate, you just screwed me up! Now she beat me!" Phoebe cried putting up her hands in defeat. Gracie giggled a little and then, seeming shocked at herself, put a hand to mouth. It had been a long time since she'd laughed, she wasn't sure she even remembered how to.

"Well Shane and Jason should be back here soon. Show starts in an hour." Phoebe said, trying to pull attention away from Gracie. She figured that all the gawking at her wasn't helping her situation. "And don't forget, their taping the show tonight for the 3D movie." Great, one more reason Nate had to be nervous.

"Alright then. Show time," Nate said, rubbing his hands together.

**After the show…**

"Thank you everybody!" Shane said one last time before him and his brothers disappeared under the stage. They three of them ran around back, dropping off microphone packs. Once that was taken care of Shane and Jason ditched, running towards the end of the hallway leading to the audience. Big Rob let in two girls, both around the ages of nineteen.

The two brothers greeted the girls warmly as Nate looked on. These must be the girls Shane'd been raving about earlier.

"Hey Nate come here! We want you to meet someone!" Shane yelled over to him. He jogged over and waited to be introduced. "Nate this is Kirsten and Claire. Ladies this is our brother Nate." Shane quickly said. Nate took the awkward pause to study the girls' appearances.

Kirsten, the one Shane had his arm around, was actually pretty short. She was shorter than him by about five inches. She had medium length blonde hair with natural highlights and blue green eyes. She was pretty thin looking and, at the moment, unbelievably happy. She was wearing the biggest smile he'd seen since he'd met Mitchie Torres.

Claire on the other hand, had darker and shorter hair which she wore in French braids and blue grey eyes. She was also much taller than Kirsten, standing about an inch taller than his height of 5'7". She was also chomping away on a piece of gum, Dentyne Fire by the smell of it. Jason was looking at her like she was a goddess. Nate knew Christine would slap him for this later.

After another awkward moment, Nate finally excused himself and went backstage to see how Gracie was doing.

Once Nate had left, Shane and Jason took the opportunity to ask the girls what the were doing the rest of the summer. Why not make the tour bus a little more crowded?

"So ladies, what are you two up to for the rest of the summer?" Jason asked suavely.

"Honestly I have no idea," Claire answered, slightly giggly.

"Well that sounds really good because we had a crazy idea," Joe exclaimed, hardly able to contain himself.

"And what might this crazy idea be?" Kirsten blushed as she addressed him.

"Well if you have nothing to do, why not come on tour with us?" Shane blurted out, not really getting the cool and collected attitude across.

Both girls were unanimous with their decision. "HELL YES!" They cried together.

"So how long have you two been friends?" Jason asked as they marched down the long hallway, off to introduce their new friends to their best friends.

"Almost all out lives, really," Kirsten answered. She began laughing hysterically when Shane took a chance and started to tickle her in the sides.

"Oh yeah? That's really cool!" Shane said over her shrieks of laughter.

"Yeah, we're really close. Practically sisters," Claire added coolly.

"Well we should probably drive you back to where you're staying so you can pack up. This is going to be one hack of a tour." Jason said as they walked further down the hall.

Yeah, one heck of a tour…

**So kind of short but I really wanted to introduce Kirsten and Claire so I hope you girls are happy with how I wrote your, if anything, brief appearance. Don't worry it will get better I promise! But until then, review please!**


	4. Learning To Fall

A/N: Yay for updates

**A/N: Yay for updates! Again, I will try to do so as fast as I can but life is against it happening everyday. Cousins up to visit, friends wanting to hang out, parents, ect. So yeah, please bear with me here but whenever I can I will write!**

**And once more, thank you to all my readers and reviewers and alerters…if that's even a word? You guys make my day with all your awesome reviews! So enjoy the next chapter! (PS it's going to be in Nick's POV and listening to the song Dare You To Move might help get in the mood. It's what I was listening to while I wrote it!)**

So forming a list of all the things I now had to deal with while on tour. It was getting to be quite lengthy and we'd only been on tour less than a month. About two weeks actually.

1. Shows. I always had to worry about the shows every night, no matter how many I've done before. At least this wasn't the greatest worry.

2. Spending time with my best friend without her thinking I'm spacing and forgetting about her. She was a very understanding person but that would only go so far when I had another girl hanging around me.

3. Which brings me to number three. Gracie. Dealing with a girl who seemed to be suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder without a shrink on board and only seemed to be okay around me and Phoebe was pretty time consuming. Especially when dealing with number two.

4. My brothers. Shane and Jason were head over heels for Kirsten and Claire. And for the love of God, did they have to invite them on tour? They'd known them for all of a day! And then Frankie and his need to be entertained was enough to drive someone to drink.

5. My brother's best friends. Suddenly I was the go-to guy for Karla and Christine to vent about how Shane and Jason were ignoring them. This was getting ridiculous. They were really trying to see how far I could go before I cracked!

6. Trying to cover up the fact that I was about to crack.

Unbelievable amount of topics on this list. How did anyone expect a fifteen year old to be able to handle all this? I was supposed to be at the age where my biggest priorities were looking cool, what nights I could hang with friends, and school.

Which reminds me, add school as number seven on the list.

So here I was, sitting in the back of the overly crowded tour bus, guitar in hand, Phoebe with her head resting on my shoulder, and a very loud commotion coming from down the hall.

We could hear Shane and Jason trying to impress Kirsten and Claire, no doubt while Karla and Christine looked on in disgust. My parents were out there with them, getting to know the girls…again. They'd been having these nightly interviews since we'd brought the girls along. Frankie was probably sitting between them on the couch. Gracie had gone to bed early tonight. She'd fallen asleep at the concert and Jason had had to carry her on to the bus. She currently resided in my bunk. After the first night here, that's the only bunk she would sleep in, for reasons unknown. Maybe whatever had happened to her had affected her ability to accept changes in her surroundings?

I had also been trying to get that story out of her. Gently, I'd been asking her about what had happened but she refused to tell me. It scared me to think that whatever _had _occurred made her feel like she couldn't tell anyone. But I promised myself and her I'd help her and I couldn't do that if I didn't have the full story.

Phoebe sighed next to me and I stopped playing my guitar. I put it down and sighed with her.

"Why'd you stop?" She asked me, picking up her head off my shoulder to look at me.

"I can't think straight. I'm playing stuff that doesn't even sound like anything." I said truthfully.

"I liked it. It sounded…pretty." She said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. It was a little sad, but pretty." I could always count on her to tell me the truth so I had no reason not to this time. If Phoebe hated something, she wouldn't hesitate to say so, and when it sounded good, she took pride in being the first to let me know.

"Thanks," I smiled slightly and she settled back down on my shoulder. We pulled into the hotel parking lot in Colorado a moment later. My family was the first ones off the bus, Kirsten and Claire following close behind. Karla and Christine appeared in the doorway to complain some more.

"Those girls are getting on my last nerve!" Christine said, plopping down on the couch. "They are fawning all over the guys!"

"Yeah, Shane can't keep his hands off of her. I'm pretty sure he and Jason are in need of a little wake up call," Karla announced, grinning evilly.

"I don't think that t-ping their bunks and switching their after shave with perfume will convince them Kirsten and Claire should be dropped at the next airport," Phoebe said sarcastically. I stifled a laugh as Karla lunged for her younger sister.

"Karla, don't kill her. Mom and Dad would kill me for letting it happen." Christine said, restraining her.

"Fine," Karla folded her arms and leaned against the wall next to the doorway.

"Well I'm tired so can we please go up to the room now?" Phoebe pleaded with her older sisters.

"Yes please. I'm tired too," Christine said getting up and the girls all wished me a good night.

"Night guys," I called to them as I decided that going inside was probably a good idea. I walked by my bunk and paused to wake up Gracie. Unfortunately she got a little spooked at my shaking her awake.

I was half asleep and wasn't thinking when I shook her arm and she screamed, sat up rigidly, and recoiled from my touch. _Not tonight, please!_ I thought.

"Shhhh, it's just me, calm down." I said trying to get her to stop screaming. She did but still appeared shell shocked.

"S…s…sorry," she managed to choke out.

"Come on, we're at the hotel. I'm going up to my room, you coming with me?"

She nodded and climbed out of bed carefully. But as she did so, her shirt, or rather one of mine seeing as we hadn't had much time to go shopping and everything we had bought for her so far was in the wash, caught on the sheets as she pulled them back and I found myself catching a glimpse of a series of bruises running along her stomach. Oh man, this was what I'd been waiting for…an excuse to ask.

I stopped her from moving once I saw the bruises, grabbing her arm and holding on despite all her whimpering.

"Gracie slow down-" I tried to start but she cut in.

"No please don't! Please don't make me talk about it!" She cried, pulling away from me. She was smart, she knew exactly what was going on.

"You have to tell me. I want to help but I can't if I don't know what's going on!" She wasn't listening, just twisting around, trying to break out of my grip.

"No! I can't tell you! You'd hate me!" She screamed and I froze. Why on earth would I hate her? I voiced this concern to her and she just stared me down before saying, "Because it makes me dirty."

I was pretty sure of where this was going now.

"Gracie, please tell me. I'm begging you." I said softly. "Please. I promise I won't hate you. I could never hate you."

She drew in a shaky breath. "You promise?"

"I do." Those words opened the flood gates to a world I was better off never entering. A world every kid was better off never entering.

It was painful to listen to. Every word racked with so much emotion, emotions I didn't even know existed nor was capable of feeling myself. It made me see her in a new light. Here was a girl, not any older than me, who'd been exposed to horrors no one should have to go through. By the end of it, I was crying in spite of myself, and it was all because of three little words.

"He raped me," it was barely a whisper, coming over the tears streaming down her face. I think my heart broke right then and there.

"Oh…Gracie…" I had no idea what to say. What did you say to someone who'd gone through all that?

"Please don't say you're sorry. It's not your fault. You have nothing to be sorry about," She looked down, ashamed of everything.

"It's not your fault either," I said. She looked into my eyes and I swear she aged about twenty years right in front of me.

"That's nice and all to say, but a total lie. I let it happen." I snapped at that one.

"No! No you didn't! If you'd let it happen, you wouldn't be so messed up! It's not your fault and don't you dare tell yourself that!" I couldn't believe she blamed herself for that asshole's sick and twisted mind.

"Nick, I need help," she whispered to me. I'd never heard her call me by my name before. It sounded different coming from her.

"I'm here," I whispered, taking her into my arms. "I'm always here for you, Gracie."

**So what do you think? Kind of corny but I needed to get this out of the way so that I can segway into the boy's love interests and how they get together. This will basically be the rest of the story, each chapter being a step forward in one of the three couples love lives. Or at least that's how it looks right now.**


	5. Good Advice and a 24 Hour Invite

A/N: Okay skipping the author's note and going right to the chapter today, 'cause I'm too lazy to write one

**A/N: Okay so just to make things clear, I now have to switch this to Connect Three so its not Nick, Joe, Kevin, its Nate, Shane, Jason. Just a little switcheroo, all other characters will stay the same! Frankie as well, Connect Three has a new little bro, didn't you know this?**

We stayed on the bus for a while, but just how long a while was, I didn't know. I'd lost track of time and soon after she'd fallen asleep in my arms, I drifted off too. I was thankful for my lack of dreaming because I was sure that if I did, it would be a nightmare.

It was Phoebe who shook me awake, hours later. It was dark inside the bus and I could tell it was late.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, fine." I glanced at Gracie, still sound asleep in my arms and felt a twinge of pain in my chest. "Phoebe, can I talk to you?"

"Of course. You can always talk to me." She said, a laugh tugging at her lips. "But first I think you two should come inside."

We walked up into the hotel in silence. She showed me where she was staying with her sisters. It was a double room, connected by a door, so Christine and Karla were asleep in the other room and Phoebe was sharing on this side of the door with Gracie. Across the hall were Claire and Kirsten. Next door were me and Shane, and Frankie and Jason were next door to Claire and Kirsten. My parents were somewhere on this floor with the rest of the crew and band but I wasn't sure exactly which room.

We entered the room and I put Gracie down gently on her bed. I pulled the sheets over her and watched as she snuggled into the pillow. I then turned around and saw that Phoebe was sitting on her bed, Indian style. I sat down on the foot of the bed and faced her.

"Okay, now what's up?" She said, settling in. This is what I loved about my best friend. She was always there to talk to when I needed advice. My brothers always thought of me as their go to guy for understanding and advice giving, but what they didn't know is that I needed advice and guidance sometimes too. And I got that from Phoebe.

"Phoebe, Gracie actually talked to me tonight. And what she said kind of freaked me out. I'm not sure what to do or how to handle it. I need your help."

"What did she say? Did she talk to you about what happened?"

"Yes." I said simply. I wasn't sure if I should continue but the patient look from my friend got me taking. "She told me she was, raped."

I waited for the bombshell but it never came. She just sat and stared at me for a minute. Then, she glanced over at Gracie and I saw tears in her eyes.

"Really? How could anyone do that to someone? That's just so…horrible." She was absolutely disgusted with the situation and her expression said it all.

"I know. And she asked me to help her, but I'm not sure how to do that. What do you say to someone who's been through that?" I asked hoping she'd have an answer. For once, Phoebe had nothing to say.

"Nate, I don't know what to say either. I honestly don't know." She seemed desperate to help me in some way but was at a loss. I understood that and smiled at her.

"Don't worry about it. Just promise me you'll think about it and if you have anything, tell me."

"Yes, of course I will." Tears shone in her eyes as she looked up at me. "But just remember; don't say anything to her that you wouldn't want to hear yourself. The best advice I can give is to put yourself in her place and to tell her the things you'd want to hear, and to answer the questions you'd want answered. Other than that, I don't know what to tell you."

I let that sink in, then leaned forward and gave Phoebe a hug. She returned it gratefully and we stayed like that for a few minutes. She'd helped more than she knew.

**POV Switch**

"Goodnight Kirsten. I'll see you in the morning." I told her before shutting off my phone and plopping back against my bed. I glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost 1 in the morning. Where the heck was Nate?

I was just about to go looking for him when, lo and behold, the door opened. Expecting Nate I was just about to launch into a game of Twenty Questions on where he'd been, when Karla came into sight.

"Oh hey Karla. What's up?" I greeted my oldest and best friend. My partner in crime if you will.

"Shane we need to have a little chat." She said, stepping in front of the bed. I looked up at her and she had her hands on her hips in a "Don't mess with me" fashion.

"Alright, what's going on?" I was a little confused by this. She never acted this way unless she was mad at me, and there was no reason for her to be. Was there?

"It's about those girls you invited on tour. For goodness sake, Shane, you and Jason knew them for maybe 24 hours and you just _invited_ them on tour with us. And you've been hanging all over them!" She exclaimed. She was using wild hand gestures and I could tell she meant business. But come on, I had not been hanging all over Kirsten.

"Karla that's crazy! I haven't been hanging all over her!" I voiced my concern out loud. "And did you ever stop to think that maybe we invited them because we like them?"

"Shane I know you like them! Too much! You barely even know them. You two have been ignoring everyone since-" I cut her off there.

So this is what she was getting at. She was jealous!

"Karla, are you jealous?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"NO! Of course not!" She did that thing when her voice goes really high pitched when she's lying.

"I think you are. Do I make you jealous?" I said seductively.

"You need an ego check! I say one thing and al of a sudden its all about _you_."

"Yes but in my defense this conversation was about me to begin with." I said. And I was right.

"UHHA!" She was annoyed I was right…again! "Shane you're my best friend." She sat next to me on my bed and grabbed my hand. "You always have been and I guess me and Christine just felt like you'd forgotten us. You've been practically ignoring us since they got on that bus with us."

Okay now this was not what I expected at the start of this conversation. Karla thought I was ignoring her? She was my non blood related sister for crying out loud!

"Karla, is that how you really feel? I had no idea. I promise, I didn't mean it! And if I ever do that again, you have my permission to smack me upside the head. Scouts honor." I said holding up my hand in a Boy Scout salute.

"Shane, I never needed your permission," She said giving me a hug.

I was glad our fight was over.

**POV Switch**

"Christine, what's up?" I'd opened the door to find my best friend standing there, arms crossed and her eyes narrowed. What had I done wrong? It scared me that I couldn't remember.

"You know what's up Jason." No actually I didn't. But I was steeling myself to find out.

"No, I can't say that I do," I closed the door behind her as she came into my hotel room and sat down on the bed.

"Jason, what is up with those girls you and Shane invited on tour with us?"

Oh so that's what this was about. She was getting her feelings bent out of shape because I was spending time with someone else. Jealous much?

"Oh Christine. If this is about me not spending as much time with you, consider this conversation over. I won't neglect you anymore. Problem solved!" I said, feeling confident with that as a solution. Unfortunately she didn't feel that way.

"No problem not solved! Problem still here! This isn't about me being jealous of the time you spend with Claire, although you _do _spend a lot with her. This is about you barely knowing her!"

"I'll be okay. She's really sweet, Christine, it's you who doesn't know her."

"Uh Uh. Jason, it's been what? A week and a half? You don't know anything about her! We've known each other our almost all our lives and you still don't know everything about me!"

"Listen to me hon." I sat down next to her. I needed to let her know her concern had been voiced and I'd be careful. She cared and that felt amazing. But there was such a thing as being a little over protective. "I know you care and that's why your worried. Hell, I've always had to interrogate anyone you've ever dated to make sure they are okay. But you need to trust me when it comes to this. I really think she's an amazing person and I wouldn't be saying this if I had any doubts."

A smile was pulling at her lips and she was fighting hard to keep it back.

"You know me better than anyone. You know that I don't trust people so easily and this girl I do. Please give me this Christine?" I pleaded with her.

She stared me down, giving me that evil glare she had whenever she was playing around. Suddenly she broke a smile and hugged me.

"Jason just promise me you'll be careful? I don't want you to get your heart broken." She said sincerely.

"You know it. Thank you." I said pulling her away and looking her in the eyes.

Another spectacular save by Jason!

**I am so sorry it's been so long! I've actually been working as an extra on set of an independent movie filming in my area. It's got two members form the dance crew status quo (america's best dance crew), Michael Copon (blue power ranger, that's so raven, Bring It On All Or Nothing, One Tree Hill), and Ryan Hansen (Veronica Mars, That's So Raven) and tons more! Its been an amazing experience and most of the actors are so nice! We even got to watch Status Quo dance today for a scene in the movie!**

**So yeah, that's my excuse! Sorry again!**


	6. A Hand A Dance A Promise

A/N: I apologize for the delays in chapters here

**A/N: I apologize for the delays in chapters here. I've been getting so into my other story Summer Break that I've been ignoring this one. (PS, if you like my humor stuff, these later chapters in Summer Break are some of my best. You should totally go read!) But anyway, sorry again, and hope you like this next chapter.**

**I also want to thank my amazing reviewers who've gotten me to fifty reviews! Let's break 100! Haha, but seriously blondemoment, TurnerChick, breakingxfree, thelondonlush, and Candy Coated Misery, you guys are amazing! Thanks to everyone else but these guys really know how to make my day!**

**One more thing is that this chapter is in Kevin's POV. So that's all for now! **

The next morning we all piled back into the bus and sped off to our next venue. It was only a twenty minute ride considering we'd stayed in a hotel close by last night. I was glad I'd patched things up with Christine last night. She was my best friend and I'm not sure I could've lasted the rest if the tour with her mad at me.

We pulled into the parking garage behind the arena and got out, stretching in the cooler air. I grabbed my Starbucks iced coffee and joined everyone. I snuck up behind Claire, shooting a glance at Christine first to make sure it was okay. She smiled and I then put my arms around Claire's waist and she jumped a mile, her short french braided pig tails flying up as she did so.

"Jason!" She screamed and then turned around and smacked me on the arm. She stuck her tongue out at me and I laughed. "Don't scare me like that!" She yelled.

"Sorry, Claire. Forgive me?" I asked, playing along.

She thought for a moment and then finally decided, "Sure, why not?"

We packed up some of the stuff we needed and all trooped into the theater. I looked over at Shane, who'd apparently made nice with Karla too. He was chatting animatedly with her, Kirsten on his other side, listening.

Yes, everything was right with the world again…yeah right. Nate was still trying to help Gracie. I'd been told this morning about what had gone down last night. It broke my heart to see that girl so pained and, well, broken herself. I wanted to help but I'd learned enough about this kind of stuff to know that Nate was the person she'd become attached to and no one but him could help her now. If I tried to butt in it might make things worse.

So for now I was stuck just mulling over the age old question 'does she like me or not?'

Claire was really great and so much fun to be around but I still wasn't sure if, after she'd gotten to know me, she really liked me like that. At first I'd figured it was a set game. I was going to win no matter what happened. Now, I wasn't so sure.

I knew of one person that could help me, unfortunately she hadn't been in the mood to do anything about it the last week or so. Now that me and Christine had patched things up, I knew she'd know exactly what to do. After I'd gotten the whole story from Nate this morning, I'd then gone and talked tings over with Christine. She was already working to figure this out.

I watched as she walked over to Claire and struck up a friendly conversation with her. I only wished I could hear what she was saying.

**POV Switch and two hours later…**

I walked out onto the stage.

Crew people, and managers, and all sorts of people were running around trying to get ready for tonight.

The noise still scared me.

Some of the louder noises still made me jump.

But for right now, I couldn't hear any of it.

I wasn't sure why, maybe it was because my thoughts were far off.

I wasn't thinking about everything that had happened in the last year.

I wasn't thinking about _him_ or anything about that place and that time.

I had figured out a way to block it all out.

To make all the noises and flashes and screams go away.

I thought about him. Not _him_, but him.

To make all the memories stay back in the furthest corners of my mind.

I thought about him.

To make everything almost okay again. Like it had never really happened.

For this, I danced.

Of course once I was startled out of my own world everything returned.

All the noises and flashes and screams and faces and memories came flooding back.

But I wasn't thinking about that right now. Right now, I was dancing.

I hummed a song and closed my eyes. This was the first time I'd closed my eyes since I'd been there without seeing everything. It felt…good.

Like, really good. I never wanted the feeling to end and as I swayed to the music in my head, I picked up my pace.

It had been so long since I'd taken a dance class. Before I'd been kidnapped, ballet was my life. It was everything to me and I'd once dreamed of being a professional ballerina

But I was surprised as it all started coming back to me. A tendue here, a pierouette there and soon I knew if I tried I could leap and fouette just like I used to.

And I did.

It started with just a few jumps and then a few turns. Then I tried my fouette turns and then a tombe **pas de bourrée into a head to toe leap. It was a good thing I was wearing soffee shorts and a lose t shirt or I wouldn't have been able to do it. I stopped at this point to stretch before I hurt myself. **

**Still in my own little world, I sat down in the middle of the stage and sat in a straddle. I kept on humming to myself as I stretched. **

**I don't know how much later it was but once I felt better about dancing without pulling anything, I began again. Only this time I was better. Almost as good as I had been. All those times I'd heard teachers talk about how once you do ballet enough you never forget it and I never believed them. **

**I twirled around the stage, blowing past all the crew people setting up sets and lights. I ignored them, falling into my daydreams. In my mind I was Gracie, prema ballerina. Performing tonight on this stage for one night only. **

As the music in my head grew louder I danced even harder. I could almost hear the notes form the piano, echoing through the whole arena.

But as I kept moving, the music really did seem like it was getting louder. I snapped my eyes open and looked around. I saw, up on a newly built platform, one that wasn't there when I'd walked out on stage, was Nate playing piano.

He noticed I'd stopped dancing and he stopped playing. He just looked at me, encouragingly. Like he didn't want me to stop. I saw that no one was left on stage and that I'd been up here longer than I'd thought. I glanced back up to Nate, who was still watching me.

"I didn't know you were a dancer. You're really good," he said to me.

I was suddenly embarrassed. I avoided his gaze and glanced at my feet. In a matter of seconds, he was by my side. But it was too late. They were back. Everything was coming back.

He put a hand on my shoulder.

I didn't want to do it.

I really didn't.

I felt the scream climbing up my throat and before I could get the message to my brain that it wasn't _him,_ it was him touching me, I screamed.

**POV Switch**

The scream bounced off the walls of the arena, filing the whole room with that agonized, pained voice.

I quickly pulled my hand away. I knew it was my fault that she'd done that. She'd been fine a minute ago but now she was back to her broken self.

But then as she backed away from me, tears forming in her eyes, she looked up at me and before they could fall she stopped. She just stopped all together and stared at me, a weary look in her eyes and she fell to the ground.

It wasn't a full on collapse but more of a sinking down so she could sit. It was as if she didn't have the energy to hold herself up anymore. I walked over to her and sat down next to her, suddenly exhausted.

We sat in silence for a while. I wanted her to be the one to talk first. I knew she had more to say than she'd been able to last night and it was something, as much as I didn't want to hear, I had to.

"Why am I so screwed up?" She said after a moment. It took me by surprise and I wasn't sure how to reply.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, why did this all happen to me? Why am I the one whose life was completely screwed over. I don't even know where I live anymore! My family could've moved to Alaska for all I know." She cried.

"Well if that happened then you'd at least have somewhere to go," I said facing her.

She snorted. "Oh yeah, and where's that?"

"You could stay with us," I said. I couldn't believe it wasn't obvious to her.

"Yeah right. I couldn't put you out like that. You've helped me more than I ever thought possible already,"

She looked at her hands and then out into the audience. I had to say something else.

"Gracie, you know we'd never leave you alone. And as for why this happened to you, who knows. God works in mysterious ways. Sometime they don't always make sense but if you're asking me what I think, I think that this happened to you so that we could meet. We never would have met if it hadn't been for all that's happened to you."

She looked at me for a moment, studying me. "Nate, I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't picked me up that day." Her voice cracked and she stopped.

"I know." I put my arms around her and she held on. With everything left in her she held on. "And Gracie, I promise you, we will help you find your family. We will do everything we can and hopefully that's enough," I hoped I wasn't making an empty promise.

"I think that's more than I could've ever asked for." She said as she hung on like her life depended on it. On me.

**A/N: so if you couldn't tell already, for the next few chaps I wanna switch POV's in the beginning so all of my other characters get a little in their POV. Any auditioned characters in this let me know if you mind me writing in your POV. It is just to help advance some of the other love interest story lines. **


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